Landmark European Court of Justice ruling safeguards Natura 2000 sites
A recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union marks a significant milestone for nature conservation in Europe and serves as a stern rebuke to countries, such as Greece, that are unacceptably late in their obligation to protect biodiversity hotspots.
Specifically, on July 16, the CJEU ruled that a proper assessment of the impact of a project on a protected Natura 2000 site cannot be carried out unless clear and specific conservation objectives for that site have been established in advance. Decisions C27/25 and C356/25 concern preliminary rulings requested by Irish courts regarding wind farms located within a Natura site. As the CJEU ruled, “Article 6(3) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of May 21, 1992, on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, must be interpreted as meaning that, where no specific conservation objectives have been previously established for the Special Protection Area in question, the competent national authority cannot carry out a valid and proper assessment of the effects of a plan or project on the integrity of the site when examining an application for approval of the plan or project. [ …] Conversely, the assessment of the likelihood or risk that a plan or project will have a significant impact on a protected area within that geographical zone cannot be carried out without taking into account the specific conservation objectives of that protected area.”
Without these objectives, the assessment lacks the necessary scientific rigor, and there is a risk that projects may be approved that could cause significant or even irreversible ecological damage. Consequently, plans or projects within Natura sites cannot be approved unless specific conservation objectives have been established for those sites. Furthermore, these objectives provide the framework for defining both conservation priorities and the necessary protection measures (paras. 59 and 60).
The decision is of particular importance for Greece, where many sites in the Natura 2000 network still lack specific conservation objectives for numerous protected species and habitats, either due to insufficient data or for other reasons, while at the same time, for the overwhelming majority of sites, there remains a critical gap in the adoption of regulatory conservation measures.
Projects such as the LNG facilities within the Thrace marine area (Alexandroupoli), as well as plans for hydrocarbon extraction, wind farms in Thrace, or tourism and other facilities, must be assessed based on specific and detailed conservation objectives for the species and habitats they are likely to affect.
The CJEU’s ruling sends a clear and resounding message: the protection of Natura 2000 sites is neither a mere formality nor a political choice, but a substantive legal obligation.
Greece must immediately finalize the establishment of specific conservation objectives for all protected species and habitats in all areas of the Natura network, ensuring that any project likely to affect them is assessed based on the best available scientific data and the precautionary principle. In direct connection with this, the government is also called upon to overcome long-standing shortcomings and protect the most valuable parts of Greek nature by issuing, after many years of delay, presidential decrees that will meet the requirements of EU law and safeguard the country’s protected areas.
“The CJEU’s ruling, which also recalls Greece’s 2020 conviction, definitively puts an end to the cycle of excuses for the chronic, cross-party delay in protecting Natura 2000 sites. It confirms what we have been saying for years: without specific conservation objectives, there can be no legally valid project permits. “Greece must now effectively safeguard its protected areas through scientifically sound decisions and full compliance with European law,” states Dimitris Karavellas, director of WWF Greece.
